DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 9/10/2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Objections
Claim 17 objected to because of the following informalities: "wherein the support is" should read "wherein the seal support is" so as to clarify the element which the limitation is referring. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by May-Ling et. al. (US 20200378207).
Regarding claim 12, May-Ling et. al. teaches: A protector for a tubular threaded element for drilling, exploitation of hydrocarbon wells, transport of oil and gas, transport or storage of hydrogen, carbon capture or geothermy, said protector comprising: a main body (main body 16 [Fig. 1 and Para. 30, lines 4-8]), said main body including at least one exterior axial surface extending axially and facing outward in such a manner as to be able in the assembled state to face an internal wall of a tubular threaded element (contains an inner bore which would face internal wall of element 14 [Fig. 1]), wherein the exterior axial surface of said main body is fitted with at least one seal configured in the assembled state to block particles of scale (seal 20 is fitted onto exterior axial surface [Fig. 4 and Para. 33, lines 15-18]).
Regarding claim 13, May-Ling et. al. teaches: The protector according to Claim 12, wherein said seal is of an elastomer, a flexible bristle brush, a foam, or a plastic lip type (seal 20 can be made of a plastic or foam material [Para. 34, lines 2-10]).
Claims 12-16, 19 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Danneffel et. al. (US 20220243856).
Regarding claim 12, Danneffel et. al. teaches: A protector for a tubular threaded element for drilling, exploitation of hydrocarbon wells, transport of oil and gas, transport or storage of hydrogen, carbon capture or geothermy, said protector comprising: a main body (main body 96 of device [Fig. 7A and Para. 67, lines 1-5]), said main body including at least one exterior axial surface extending axially and facing outward in such a manner as to be able in the assembled state to face an internal wall of a tubular threaded element (main body 96 has an exterior axial surface 138 extending axially and facing inter wall [Fig. 7A and Para. 67, lines 1-5]), wherein the exterior axial surface of said main body is fitted with at least one seal configured in the assembled state to block particles of scale (fit with one seal 178 [Fig. 7B and Para. 75, lines 1-14]).
Regarding claim 13, Danneffel et. al. teaches: The protector according to Claim 12, wherein said seal is of an elastomer, a flexible bristle brush, a foam, or a plastic lip type (seal is made of an elastomer [Para. 75, lines 3-5]).
Regarding claim 14, Danneffel et. al. teaches: The protector according to Claim 12, wherein the exterior axial surface includes a housing configured to accommodate the seal (includes a housing 169 [Fig. 7b and Para. 75, lines 1-14]).
Regarding claim 15, Danneffel et. al. teaches: The protector according to Claim 14, wherein the exterior axial surface further includes a seal support, said seal support including said housing (Seal support is a annular groove forming a housing [Fig. 7B]).
Regarding claim 16, Danneffel et. al. teaches: The protector according to Claim 14, wherein said housing containing the seal includes at least one profiled section configured to retain said seal in the housing (the housing has a profiled section 169 to retain the seal [Fig. 7B]).
Regarding claim 19, Danneffel et. al. teaches: The protector according to Claim 12, further comprising a thread having a thread pitch P (comprises a thread 94 which would consist of a thread pitch [Fig. 7B]) and an abutment surface configured to be brought into contact with a corresponding abutment surface of said tubular threaded element (abutment surface 64 to contact corresponding surface [Fig. 7B and Para. 75, lines 10-12]).
Regarding claim 23, Danneffel et. al. teaches: A tubular threaded element comprising: the protector according to Claim 12 (tubular threaded element 70 comprising the protector 96 [Fig. 7A and Para. 46, lines 1-4]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Danneffel et. al. (US 20220243856).
Regarding claim 20, Danneffel et. al. teaches: The protector according to Claim 19, wherein a minimum position of the seal relative to a axis Z (contains a seal 178 located at a minimum distance to the abutment 64 and a seal 182 located at another distance from the abutment 64 [Fig. 11A and Para. 85, lines 1-7]) P: value in mm of the thread pitch of the protector; and Zp2: value in mm of a distance along the axis Z between the abutment surface of the protector and the seal.
Danneffel et. al. fails to teach the specific equation and distance specified in the claim as Zp2 > P/2. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select a minimum position of the seal to be greater or equal to pitch divided by 2 in order to meet design requirements and quality control purposes for successful sealing, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 21, Danneffel et. al. teaches: The protector according to Claim 19, wherein a maximum position of the seal relative to a axis Z (teaches a seal 182 at a greater position along the Z axis with respect to the abutment 64 than seal 178[Figs. 11A and 11B]) Zf: value of a distance between the abutment surface and an end of the male or female thread of the protector along the axis Z; Zpl: value of the axial contact length of the seal at the level of the exterior axial surface along the axis Z; andZp2: value in mm of a distance along the axis Z between the abutment surface of the protector and the seal.
Danneffel et. al. fails to teach the specific equation and distance specified in the claim as Zp2 +Zpl<Zf. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select a maximum position of the seal to be less than or equal to the distance between the end of the protector and the abutment in order to meet design requirements and quality control purposes for successful sealing, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 22, Danneffel et. al. teaches: The protector according to Claim 21, wherein the maximum position of the seal relative to the axis Z (teaches a seal 182 at a greater position along the Z axis with respect to the abutment 64 than seal 178 [Figs. 11A and 11B]): Zf: value of the distance between the abutment surface and the end of the male or female thread of the protector along the axis Z; Zpl: value of the axial contact length of the seal at the level of the exterior axial surface along the axis Z; and Zp2: value in mm of the distance along the axis Z between the abutment surface of the protector and the seal.
Danneffel et. al. fails to teach the specific equation and distance specified in the claim as:0.05 x (Zf) < Zp2 +Zp1< 0.3 x (Zf). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select a maximum position of the seal to with the range of 0.05 and 0.3 times the distance between the end of the protector and the abutment in order to meet design requirements and quality control purposes for successful sealing, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-18 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not disclose or reasonably suggest the protector for a tubular threaded element comprising the features set forth in dependent claim 17.
US 20200378207 to May-Ling et. al., US 20220243856 to Danneffel et. al. may be seen as close prior art in certain aspects but fail to expressly teach the protector for a tubular threaded element comprising a seal support connected to the exterior axial surface by a reverse screw pitch system, riveting system, friction welded system, or welding system as described in claim 17.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Richards (US 6196270) teaches: a thread protector for protecting the threaded end of a tubular pipe (Abstract and Fig. 2).
Galer (US 4210179) teaches: a pipe thread protected with an outer axial extending element facing an inner portion of the tubular body (Abstract and Fig. 2).
Aguilar et. al. (US 20170370159) teaches: a protector for a tubular threaded element with an elastomer seal (Abstract and Fig. 5).
Danneffel et. al. (US 20160039585) teaches: a pipe thread connector with an inner tapered groove for abutting the end of a tubular threaded element (Abstract and Fig. 9).
Pajaro Gonzalez (US 20060266428) teaches: a protector for threaded tubular elements with an inner axial portion facing the interior of the tubular element (Abstract and Fig. 1).
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/JOSHUA D LEARY/Examiner, Art Unit 3753
/CRAIG M SCHNEIDER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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